Above-ground swimming pools include one or more sidewalls that extend upwardly from the ground to form a circular, oval, rectangular or other well-known or customized shaped pool. The one or more sidewalls are typically fabricated from galvanized steel which is corrugated for additional structural support. The inner and outer surfaces of the sidewall(s) can be coated with a primer and top coat such as a polyester or epoxy paint to help prevent corrosion. A steel frame including a top rail and spaced-apart vertical rails are secured about the external and top surfaces of the sidewall(s) to provide support and integrity of the above-ground pool The frame components can be fabricated from galvanized steel and coated with a polyester coating are also commonly used. A pool liner is installed along the interior surface of the sidewall and bottom surface to isolate and protect the interior wall from the water environment, as well as for aesthetic purposes. The liner is typically fabricated from vinyl, and can have a thickness in the range of 20 to 30 millimeters.
Referring to a representative system of the prior art illustrated in FIG. 1, an external filtering system 104 for filtering water 101 contained by an above-ground swimming pool 100 includes a water skimmer 108, a pump 112, a pressure tank 124 and a filtering device 116 that are installed remotely from the pool 100, usually along the exterior of the sidewall 102. The skimmer 108 is sealingly mounted through a cutout formed through the sidewall 102 and liner 103 of the pool. The skimmer 108 serves as an inlet for receiving water and debris circulating within the pool. Pool water flowing into the skimmer 108 is pumped by the external pump 112 via a first flexible conduit or hose 110 coupled from an outlet of the skimmer 108 to an inlet of the filter device 116. The filter device 116 can be a conventional sand filter, cartridge filter, among other well-known filtering devices. The pool water and debris flow through the filter device 116, where any debris is captured and isolated from the water. The water pump 112 pumps the filtered water 101 through an outlet of the filter device 116 to an inlet of a pressure tank 124 via a second flexible conduit or hose 114. The pressurized filtered water is discharged through a pool discharge port 120 formed in the sidewall 102 of the pool 100 via a third flexible conduit or hose 118 coupled between an outlet of the pressure tank 124 and the pool discharge port 120. The pool discharge port 120 is mounted in a second cutout 122 formed through the sidewall 102 and liner 103 of the pool 100. The water pump 112 receives power from an A/C power source, such as a conventional 120V AC power outlet, and draws large amounts of current in the range of 8-14 amps to operate. The external pump and filter configurations of the prior art are typically able to cycle 15,000 gallons of water in the pool per day. However, the conventional external pumps are designed to deliver power in order to sufficiently pump the water through the set of winding and angled hoses, as opposed to providing energy efficiency.
Although debris is constantly being removed from the pool 100 to provide clear and clean water in the pool for the user's pleasure, remote prior art filtering systems such as the filtering system 104 have numerous disadvantages which can be costly and require a watchful eye to prevent damage to the pool equipment and/or the pool itself. For example, the inherent nature of having to provide at least two cutouts 106, 122 through the sidewall 102 and pool liner 103 to mount the skimmer 106 and the pool discharge port 120 increases the likelihood of water leakage. Although various techniques are used to seal the skimmer and discharge port within their respective cutouts, weathering, water pressure, stresses from pool activity and other factors can cause the seals around the cutouts 106, 122 to deteriorate and leak. If not quickly remedied, water leakage can lead to reduced water levels and undesirable corrosion below and around the cutouts, despite any manufacturer's original protective coatings applied to the sidewall 102 of the pool 100.
Furthermore, the hoses 110, 114, 118 that provide the water flow as between the skimmer 108, the pump 112, the filter device 116 and the discharge port 120 are often connected by angled fittings. As well, the hoses can easily become twisted and kinked during maintenance activities. Additionally, the hoses are often corrugated or have ribs to provide greater flexibility to enable the hoses to bend and curve. The ribs along with the bends in the hose can cause turbulence and frictional losses within the interior of the hose, which reduces the flow rate of the water 101 therethrough. Accordingly, more energy is consumed as the pump must work harder to overcome the lost efficiencies due to the design deficiencies of the prior art external filter systems.
It is often necessary to “winterize” the swimming pool and its equipment in climatic areas where the average ambient temperature drops to levels where water freezes or the use of the pool is temporarily undesirable. The water in the pool is either lowered to a manufacturer's recommended level or completely drained. Additionally, the pool equipment such as the filter system, ladders, floatation devices, and other pool accessories are usually moved to storage areas that offer protection from the winter environment. Accordingly, the home owner must remove and wash the pool equipment/accessories from the pool and then store them away. This biannual ritual is disadvantageously time consuming and can subject such equipment/accessories to damage during disassembly/assembly, as well as during transport from and to the pool.
The prior art includes various examples of pool accessories that have been combined or otherwise consolidated to minimize the number of separate components required to maintain a pool. U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,378 to Desjoyaux et al. discloses a staircase assembly having a submerged front portion with a skimmer, a filter and a recycling outlet. A rear portion includes a pump and electrical apparatus for operation of the filtering system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,527,297 to Pettit discloses drawing the pool water in and discharging the filtered water below a stair/step assembly positioned along an interior wall of the pool. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,907 to Andret et al., a stair assembly having a dual set of ladders is disclosed for use with an above-ground pool. The stair assembly includes a skimmer inlet and a discharge port as part of a ladder positioned within the pool. Long lengths of tubing or piping are routed over the sidewall of the pool to connect the skimmer and discharge port to an external filter/pump system.
The prior art, including the U.S. patents noted above, does not include a submerged water pump for pumping the water through the pool filtering system. Rather, at least the water pump is positioned remotely from the interior portion of the pool, and requires flexible conduits or hoses to be routed through and secured to the filter components of the staircase assembly. Accordingly, these prior art structures are subject to the disadvantages of requiring a high power pump to pump the water through the filtering system, which is inefficient, noisy and expensive to operate. As well, the numerous interconnected components of the external filtering systems can be subject to neglect, abuse and accident during use and storage which can cause poor quality, reliability and maintenance issues and results for the filter system. For example, hoses and separate pump assembly are often connected/disconnected during maintenance, storage and winterizing operations, which can lead to excessive wear-and-tear or permanent damage.